{"id":98740,"date":"2025-10-15T21:55:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T21:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=98740"},"modified":"2025-10-15T21:55:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T21:55:00","slug":"uk-government-told-to-prepare-for-2-c-warming-by-2050","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=98740","title":{"rendered":"UK government told to prepare for 2 \u00b0C warming by 2050"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The UK should be prepared to cope with weather extremes as a result of at least 2 \u00b0C of global warming by 2050, independent climate advisers have said.<\/p>\n

The country was \u201cnot yet adapted\u201d to worsening weather extremes already occurring at current levels of warming, \u201clet alone\u201d what was expected to come, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) wrote in a letter addressed to the government.<\/p>\n

The committee said they would advise that the UK prepare for climate change beyond the long-term temperature goal set out in the Paris Agreement.<\/p>\n

The letter came as the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) confirmed that 2024 had seen a record rise of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere.<\/p>\n

CO2 is the gas mainly responsible for human-caused climate change and is released when fossil fuels are burnt, as well as in other activities.<\/p>\n

The CCC\u2019s letter came after it had been asked to provide advice on a timeframe for setting adaption scenarios, based on \u201cminimum climate scenarios\u201d.<\/p>\n

They urged the government to set out a framework of \u201cclear long-term objectives\u201d to prevent further temperature rise, with new targets every five years and departments \u201cclearly accountable\u201d for delivering those goals.<\/p>\n

The CCC said they would be able to provide further details on potential \u201ctrade-offs\u201d in May 2026, when they will release a major report outlining how the UK can adapt to climate change.<\/p>\n

The committee released their last report in April this year,\u00a0which said preparations in the UK for rising temperatures were \u201ceither too slow, has stalled, or [are] heading in the wrong direction\u201d.<\/p>\n

It warned that this lack of progress could leave the UK vulnerable to serious economic and health impacts in the decades ahead, from hospitals and care homes to food and water supplies.<\/p>\n

And it said that the impacts of high temperatures were already apparent, for example, in schools.<\/p>\n

The CCC cited preliminary findings from the Department for Education, which reported there were, on average 1.7 days of \u201cextreme overheating\u201d, as well as lost learning time due to heat.<\/p>\n

UK \u2018not keeping up\u2019 with increasing climate risks<\/h2>\n

The\u00a0Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, and saw almost 200 countries pledge to try and prevent global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 \u00b0C above pre-industrial levels, and to keep \u201cwell below\u201d 2C.<\/p>\n

As the CCC outlined in their letter, a global warming level of 2 \u00b0C would have a significant impact on the UK\u2019s weather, with extreme events becoming more frequent and widespread.<\/p>\n

They said the UK could expect increased heatwaves, drought and flooding, and wildfire season would likely extend into autumn.<\/p>\n

Baroness Brown, chairwoman of the adaptation committee for the CCC, said: \u201cPeople in the UK are already experiencing the impacts of a changing climate, and we owe it to them to prepare, and also to help them prepare.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdaptation in the UK is not keeping up with the increase in climate risk. The impacts on the UK are getting worse and [the government] needs more ambition,\u201d she told the BBC\u2019s Today programme.<\/p>\n

The chairwoman also levelled criticism at Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch,\u00a0who pledged to scrap the UK\u2019s landmark climate change legislation\u00a0and replace it with a strategy for \u201ccheap and reliable\u201d energy.<\/p>\n

Baroness Brown dubbed the promise \u201cdisappointing\u201d, and said she hoped that the Conservative leader would \u201creflect on the fact that the act covers both adaptation and mitigation\u201d.<\/p>\n

The UK is already experiencing shifting weather patterns due to climate change, with four official heatwaves confirmed in 2025 across what the Met Office have said was the hottest summer on record.<\/p>\n

Met Office climate scientists\u00a0have found that a summer as hot or hotter than 2025 is now 70 times more likely\u00a0than it would have been in a \u201cnatural\u201d climate, with no human-induced greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n

Record rise in CO2<\/h2>\n

The increase of CO2 in the atmosphere between 2023 and 2024 was the largest since modern measurements started in the late 1950s, the WMO said.<\/p>\n

This follows findings\u00a0first reported by the Met Office in January.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe heat trapped by CO2 and other greenhouse gases is turbo-charging our climate and leading to more extreme weather,\u201d said WMO Deputy Secretary-General Ko Barrett.<\/p>\n

\u201cReducing emissions is therefore essential not just for our climate but also for our economic security and community well-being,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

The UN\u2019s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has previously said CO2 levels are at their highest in at least two million years, based on longer-term records like marine sediments and ice cores.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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